Friday, January 27, 2012

pin-ssion accomplished!

Wanted to share a few of the crafts I’ve found on pinterest and made myself!

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Found this tutorial on how to make “play makeup” and thought it was so wonderful and fun! I didn’t have any already empty compacts, so I picked one up at the dollar tree and took the makeup out myself. I ended up doing about 4 “coats” of the polish because it shrinks up. I love how it turned out! My niece got this one in her stocking for Christmas

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I know I saw a pin for it somewhere (but of course I didn’t pin it :/) but i made my own “find-it” game! and doubled up the pin-fun with this tutorial on how to color rice with food coloring and rubbing alcohol. I used my rice for a different purpose, but once my kid(s) are old enough, I’m absolutely going to be making a sensory box with the rice like the original poster did!

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I made a christmas themed one for my grandma (hence the red and green rice) with a snowflake container I found at a thrift store – the picture is just the jar and rice, no find-it goodies in there yet - and a second one for a white-elephant gift that I threw in some blue rice, too
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There has been an explosion of homemade coasters all over pinterest and I’ve gotta say, they’re easy and so much fun!! I made a set for myself, my sister, and a girlfriend and they all turned out awesome! Here’s the animal-print set I made for my friend:

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I found this beautiful candy cane vase and loved it. Of course I found it in October when there were no candy canes to be found in stores! Got the base jar at a thrift store and after a trip through the dishwasher, it came out looking like new! I’m happy with how mine turned out, but it took FOREVER for me to unwrap all the candy canes (VERY carefully…lots of broken ones straight from the boxes) and after I got most of the way through, I realized not all of the canes I had were the same size (even though they were the same brand, bought from the same shelf!), so I had a tough time with this one. It’s cute and festive, but I can safely say I won’t be making another!

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I saw a really cool looking idea to stamp directly on a candle with a rubber stamp, but I think I had the wrong type of ink. So, I found another way! I ended up cutting the strip of stamped tissue paper in two pieces, because it was going on the candle really crooked. I made several of these small candles with different pictures on them (Christmas trees, presents, and lights) and set them out on a tray with faux cranberries. It looked wonderful!

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So there’s a few things I’ve made so far! I’ve tried some recipes and a couple other things that I haven’t taken pictures of, but I have lots of things on my “pin-list”! Right now I’m working on Fischer’s baby book and decorations for his first birthday party and a few little Valentine’s things :)

xo,
megs

Friday, January 13, 2012

Reuse your 6-pack bottle holder!

Not that I don't love Christmas, but I'm pretty glad to be back to "regular" life because thanks to pinterest, I've got a boatload of non-Christmas crafts I want to make!! I started with an organizational caddy for the desktop in my craft room. I had cute little buckets and baby food jars full of pens and paintbrushes and the like. But they kept falling over and didn't want to stay where I put them. Boy, did I sure show them who's the boss.

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I covered my caddy in adorable zebra duct tape (which made it sturdier!) and filled it to my little heart’s content.

If you’re wondering what’s containing my desktop paraphernalia, it’s a soda can!

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My brother showed me how to remove the top of a soda can with a can opener and then looked at me like an idiot when I thought it was the coolest thing in the world! (Am I the only one who was unaware of this phenomena?) There were very few little sharp pieces (like where I started to remove the top), which I flattened with pliers.

I’m so thrilled with my new caddy, I’m making more! Guess that means I need to drink some more Henry’s. What a shame.

xo,

Megs

Friday, September 23, 2011

halloween cards!

i love halloween! the cute halloween, not the super-gory, people jumping out of bushes in zombie makeup scaring little children halloween. 

i made my halloween cards this year from my sweetheart’s footprint. (my mini-sweetheart, not the full-grown one.)

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ghostly footprints!

we made sure the heel of the footprint was close to the top of the page so there was room to have some embellishment at the bottom. used white acrylic paint because it comes off of little feet really easily. and the eyes are just black sharpie – nothin’ special :)

back it on whatever paper you’d like – we have several different versions with purple and non-glitter paper and lots of different variations from rub-ons and stamps at the bottom.

and if your baby is born after halloween, make these in january so their foot isnt too big for the following year!!

happy haunting!

Friday, September 16, 2011

storing your everyday wreaths

i find myself accumulating fun non-christmas wreaths with no place to store them except a box in the shed. and that makes me a little sad. pretty wreaths don’t deserve to be crushed and misshapen in a mean ole box.

today, i took down my summer door décor and found the shelf in the closet wasn’t going to cut it to store my sunny friend. but i found other inspiration in the closet…

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a hanger! how simple is that?! i win! happy wreath :)

mommy’s craft time – part 2!

first off, everyone is invited to my wedding.

“i, megan, take you, mod podge, to be my lawfully wedded craft goo.”

okay, crazy lady moving on.

i love my stamps. they’re good friends of mine. i hate digging for them under all my other shit stuff. i don’t want to have to take all of the easter stamps out of the box to get to the halloween ones on the bottom.

problem solved!

(let’s rewind ever so slightly.)

i have an addiction to organizational tools. whenever joann’s has photo storage boxes on sale, i sort of buy… alot of them. unnecessary amounts. but they’re on sale!

i had this box sitting in my scrapbook room waiting for a purpose:

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and NOW problem solved:

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(enter my new husband(?), mod podge)

i had this halloween paper in the file also waiting for its purpose, and it appears, its destiny has been fulfilled!

it took me about 2 1/2 12x12 sheets of paper to cover the box (not the bottom) and the lid. when it came to tricky corners, i folded them as if i were creasing and wrapping a present. I got creative with the metal “label” thing on the front. just cut a little frame around it and slipped the extra piece in the slot. it didn’t line up exactly, but I wasn’t too worried about that.

now i have a super-cute place for all of my halloween stamps, stickers, and embellishments to go without having to unearth everything else in the room. cant wait to make a christmas one!!

mommy craft time!!

while the cutest baby in the whole world

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is at gramma’s house, his mother decided to get a few fun things done (aka NO: laundry, dishes, vacuuming)

first off:

I. LOVE. PINTEREST.

that being said, i have 1,389,275 things on my to-do list from there. let’s cross one off, shall we?

i found the following on there:

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smart. simple. a little too black and white for me. (but that was her theme)

so i made my own! one for the baby’s room in boy colors and one for under the sink in the main bathroom (which, even though no one will really see, i decorated according to the beach-theme)

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all i needed was a canister (that i emptied out at work yesterday – thank you, ghirardelli’s white chocolate powder), some scrapbook paper, mod-podge, and lettering - all of which, i already had in my crafting arsenal! for the first one, i used stickers on dark paper and cut them out, and the second was accomplished with my handy dandy cricut!

i’m so proud of myself. even though it’s basically the easiest thing i’ve ever done :)

Monday, February 28, 2011

she lives!

in looking at my blog yesterday, i realized it’s been exactly one year since i last posted. how lame. but a good place to pick up, i suppose :)

in my last post, i shared the beginning of my bucket list:

visit fenway park
watch casablanca
have a baby
get a golden retriever
read the bell jar
make my own wine
plant a garden

well, i’ve accomplished one of those things so far. sort of. lets back up.

march 2010: jesse and i basically broke our necks trying to gather financial documents – w2’s, paystubs, copies of old rent checks, bank statements from the last two years – so we could apply for a home loan. it was the biggest headache, and after bouncing back and forth between our realtor, the loan officer, and the bigger-than-the-bank lender for what seemed like a million years, accompanied by alot of frustrated tears, a bottle of wine or two, and the biggest check i’d ever written, we got our house!!

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we moved in at the beginning of april and we absolutely love it. i still find myself sitting in the livingroom looking around, completely amazed that it’s actually ours. it’s a really great feeling.

after unpacking and organizing (really, my favorite part. how fun is it to make drawers for potholders and cupboards for spices?! i know.), i found myself quickly digging in the dirt out front. which, if you know me at all, you know i dont get dirty, so this was quite a big deal. jesse would come home from work and find me in old ripped jeans and a ponytail with a bucket of plant food, shovels, gloves, and anything else i could get my hands on to attempt my first garden. i found my green thumb is more black and although i tried so hard, my flowers didnt fare as well as i’d hoped. so that’s my bucket list “sort of”…. i’m not giving up just yet, i’ll try again this year, maybe with low-maintenance flowers, and eventually i’d love to have a vegetable garden in the backyard for zucchinis and such :)

and there’s one more thing i can ALMOST cross off my list – have a baby!!!

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on july 8, 2010, i finally got the result i was hoping for!!! i waited and waited and waited to take this test, because all the others had been so heartbreaking, and i couldnt be disappointed one more time. i was six weeks along when we found out our lives were going to be changed for the better, forever.

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our sparkling cider toast :)

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sweet little profile…pretty sure i couldnt love anything more than that precious nose!

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throughout the pregnancy, all the old-wives tales said “GIRL GIRL GIRL!” and boy was i surprised when we got flashed with this shot at the ultrasound! my baby boy is quite proud of himself already :) i was truly in shock for most of the day. it didn’t hit me until about 6 hours after our appointment. “i’m having a boy. i’m going to have a son.” is all i heard in my head over and over and once it finally clicked, i cried my happy tears until i fell asleep.

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20 weeks – halfway!

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26 weeks!

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32 weeks!

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38 weeks!

we’re at 40 weeks this wednesday and still hoping for mr. fischer dean smith to make his grand entrance into the world!

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our first wedding anniversary came and went. we had a picnic and watched the sunset, low-key and perfect, just the way we like it. the wedding cake came out of the freezer and was definitely more delicious the first time around. our second is rapidly approaching and i’m sure it will be even more relaxed than the first, seeing as how we’ll be sharing it with an infant :)

as for random events of the past year, i got to see john mayer in concert TWICE in 2010!

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march 31, 2010 at keyarena in seattle

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august 28, 2010 at the gorge amphitheater in george, wa

got to be a part of a great girlfriend’s wedding!

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march 28, 2010, colette & matt <3
so much fun!!

got to celebrate our first christmas in our house!

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decorating the nursery!

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i wanted to add something extra to fischer’s room, so i turned one wall into an “under the sea aquarium” :) its no sistine chapel, but it was hand-painted with love by me, so hopefully that can be something special to him when he’s older.

i suppose that’s enough blabbing for now…i hope i can make myself be better at this again, i need to be documenting my journey through new motherhood!!